


Angel With A Shotgun

by Lili_Noir



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Love Confessions, Marichat, adrienette - Freeform, oblivious beans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2020-07-20 13:43:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19993174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lili_Noir/pseuds/Lili_Noir
Summary: After Chat Noir sustains a near fatal injury on patrol, he seeks the help of one of his most valuable friends, but instead finds a lot more than he bargained for...





	1. The Fountain Of Youth

Gunshots fired.

A feminine scream.

Pain. So much pain.

He was flying through the air.  
A crash sounded out as blackness enveloped his mind like the casual flick of a light switch in a brightly lit room.

***

When he came to, white spots danced in front his vision. Were they stars glinting against the dark night sky? Were they fireflies glinting in the pale moonlight? No, they were...fairy lights?

His vision blurred as he lost consciousness once again.

***

“Chat Noir? What are you doing on my balcony?!”

***

It had started out as a typical day for Marinette. Or so she thought.

She had woken up horribly late due to last night’s patrol, rushed to school and got caught trying to sneak into the classroom by the teacher. Luckily Ms Bustier was understanding and kind and didn’t punish Marinette for her tardiness.

She then proceeded to stare at the back of Adrien’s head for the rest of the day, blushing a deep scarlet when he turned round and caught her staring.

Despite her being 16, a couple of years older than when they first met, she still couldn’t speak a coherent sentence around him.

“Hey Marinette. How are you?” 

“A-a-Adrien! H-hi! You are how? I-I mean how you are? I-I, ugh!” She spluttered out. Adrien softly chuckled at her antics. 

“I’m fine thanks for asking.” He replied warmly before continuing.

“So I remember you saying you were interested in fashion and that you would come and watch one of my photo shoots but you never did. But I spoke to Nathalie and she said you could come along after school today, if you’re not busy of course.”

“Oh yeah! That would be great. I love you!” Marinette quickly realised her mistake as Adrien gave her a quizzical look, so she flushed red and tried (and failed) to amend it.

“I-I mean, I’d love you, I-I mean I’d love to go!!”

“Great. Meet me at the front of the school and I’ll have my bodyguard take us to the park.”

He flashed his signature model smile and turned back around.

Alya started going on a rant about how she would never have a chance with him if she couldn’t even talk to him, during which Marinette just buried her face in her arms and groaned, knowing that her best friend was right.

After school, she met up with Adrien and had a somewhat awkward car ride to the park in which Marinette stuttered a lot and Adrien laughed at his friend’s embarrassment. 

When they got to the park, Marinette sat on a bench and sketched a summer dress she was planning to make while watching people put Adrien’s makeup on and combing his fluffy, golden hair.

About an hour into the shoot, Marinette heard her name being called. She looked up in surprise to see Adrien standing above her. She jumped like someone had stuck a taser up her ass, which caused her to fall off the bench.

Adrien helped her up with a concerned look.

“Are you okay Marinette? That was quite the fall you took!” 

“I’m fine, really! I’m just clumsy.” She reassured him. “Aren’t you meant to be over there?”

“Well I’m on my break now.” Was the model’s reply. “But for the last couple of shots Vincent want me to pose with an extra, so would you do the honours?” Adrien asked with an almost Chat Noir-esque smile on his face.

“Really?! Me! I’d love to!” 

Adrien took in Marinette’s pretty features as they lit up at the question. Her bluebell eyes shone and her cheeks blushed a delicate pink.

No! He was in love with Ladybug! Focus Agreste!

He held out a hand to her and she took it. His hand fully covered her smaller one and he slipped his lithe, piano player’s fingers between hers.

“Let’s go then.”

“The theme of this shoot is ‘The fountain of youth’.” Explained Vincent. “It is meant to capture the love between a young man and woman, and most importantly capture their youth. They’re young. They don’t have to worry about growing up or getting married. Just like you. You don’t have to fight in our wars or carry the world on your shoulders. And that’s what we want to see here today.” 

The two superheroes hung their heads. They did have to fight Paris’ wars and they had to protect their city from super villains on an almost daily basis. The whole city was counting on them and the lingering fear of defeat rested like a heavy weight on their stomachs. 

But maybe, just maybe they could forget that for one moment, and let go of their problems and imagine what life would be like for the normal kids their age who worried about trivial things like exams and getting a boy/girlfriend.

Adrien wore a simple black suit with a pair of white gloves and a black tie. Marinette was given a baby blue dress to wear to neutralise Adrien’s bold suit. She wore a pastel shade of pink on her lips and a pair of lace up brown suede boots.

“You look beautiful Marinette.” Adrien stated, a soft blush staining his tanned cheeks a pretty pink as he looked her up and down.

She blushed slightly and looked away. “Thanks Adrien. You look nice too.” 

“Right!” Vincent interrupted them.

“Firstly I need you two walking hand in hand. Marinette, was it? I need you to be laughing like Adrien just told a joke, and Adrien I need you to be looking lovingly down at her like she’s your whole world, I need you to have pure love in your eyes!” 

Adrien took Marinette’s hand as they started walking beside the fountain. She started laughing but it sounded fake and forced. Vincent wasn’t impressed.

“Stop! Stop! Stop! Not nearly convincing enough! Try it again!”

Marinette returned to her starting position and hung her head. Adrien, sending her distress, put a comforting hand on her hand on her shoulder. 

“It’s okay Marinette, I’ll tell you jokes till you’re feline better.”

Marinette let out a little giggle.

“Good! Good! Exactly like that!” Vincent exclaimed loudly. “Now let’s try it again but with that smile, uh!” 

They finally got the perfect shot and proceeded to do more. One with Adrien twirling Marinette in a circle, making her dress flare out, one with Marinette balancing on the rim of the fountain holding Adrien’s hand for balance, one with Marinette splashing Adrien and another with them sitting side by side on the edge of the fountain with Marinette resting her head on Adrien’s shoulder.

It came to the last photo.

“Now I want Adrien to pick Marinette up and twirl her around while you look into her eyes. I want to see passion and innocence.” Vincent lamented to the pair, doing wildly over the top gestures to help make his point.

Adrien turned to Marinette who blushed a beautiful crimson. 

The photographer got his camera at the ready and the teens got in position.

3... Adrien held on to Marinette’s waist 

2... Marinette was blushing uncontrollably 

1... Adrien tightened his grip on Marinette’s waist as he waited for the last command.

Go! Adrien lifted Marinette above his head and spun her round looking deep into her bluebell eyes. 

Marinette was in heaven. She was flying in the arms of her crush, staring into his emerald eyes. Sparks danced on every fraction of skin and butterflies flew in wild circles in the pit of her stomach. Time seemed to stop for the two teens, they were caught in an infinite loop of erratic heartbeats and crimson blushes. 

“Right! That’s it for today! Thank you for coming Marinette, you’re a natural!” Vincent’s voice pierced their bubble with a loud pop.

“O-Oh thanks.W-Would you look at the time! I h-have to get going! See you soon Adrien and thanks for today!” The flustered girl took off in the direction of her home.

“Yeah! See you soon Marinette!” Adrien sat down against a tree and looked at the retreating bluenette.

***

Marinette skipped up the stairs to her bedroom after saying a quick hello to her parents in the bakery and twirled round her room in a lovesick fashion.

“Oh Tikki!” Marinette exclaimed, coming to a stop next to her desk where her red and black spotted friend was perched eating a cookie. “Adrien asked me to be in his photo shoot! He said I looked beautiful! HE PICKED ME UP AND SPUN ME ROUND!!”

Tikki giggled, her sugar sweet voice was music to Marinette’s ears.

***

Adrien got home and ate dinner, without his father as usual and trudged up to his room. 

After he collapsed in his desk chair, Plagg flew out of his shirt and, instead of pestering Adrien for camembert like he usually did, hovered in front of him with a knowing look on his face.

“Why are you looking at me like that Plagg?” He questioned.

“Cause you claim you love Ladybug, but I see the way you look at Marinette, and that is not the way friends look at each other.” “But I love Ladybug, Plagg!” “Maybe you’re so caught up in your love for Ladybug that you’re overlooking your affection for Marinette. Ladybug has made it clear that she likes someone else so why don’t you put more effort into your relationship with Marinette.”

Adrien shot a quizzical look at the black cat kwami and gave the matter some thought. ‘Is Plagg right? Am I really in love with Marinette?’ 

The blond shook his head.

“Ladybug will grow to like me someday, I’m sure of it. But now isn’t the time to talk about this, I have to patrol now.”

The teen superhero stood up and looked at his faithful kwami as he finished his snack. 

“Plagg, Claws Out!” He yelled as he punched his hand in the air.

The green glow of his transformation washed over him and incased his body in a black leather suit with a belt for a tail and a baton resting above it. Black ears rested atop his blond hair which had been tousled out of its coiffed style and was now more messy and wild looking.

Chat Noir extended his baton and jumped out of the open window of his bedroom.

*** 

Patrol had been a drag. It consisted of Chat mostly sitting on rooftops, sipping a large coke. 

He had been lying down for about an hour just looking at the stars, eating a croissant, when his acute hearing picked up a woman pleading with someone.

He sat bolt upright, shoving the rest of the croissant in his mouth, before crawling to the edge of the building to get a better look. 

A young woman, around early twenties, was being threatened by a couple of men in black leather jackets. One was holding a gun, the other a knife.

He front flipped off of the building to stand in front of the woman.

“Hey, you guys look edgy.”

The men’s faces darkened as they bared their weapons at Chat. He took his baton from behind his back, twirling it as he did so, before hitting the first man with it, knocking the gun out of his hand.

The guy with a knife hit his weapon out of his hand as the first guy tackled him to the ground. 

Chat hit the second attacker in the groin which incapacitated him and hit the other in the face, knocking him out cold.

He was so preoccupied with fighting the two guys that he didn’t see the third one sneak over to the side and grab his baton. 

Chat turned round just to see the third assailant pull back his arm and swing his baton towards him. 

It collided with his lower torso, tearing through the black leather and the flesh beneath. His vision blurred and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The second guy took his gun off of the ground and took a shot at his head, which he only just managed to dodge.

The woman who, all this time, had been pressed against the wall in fear, let out a scream as she ran away down the alleyway.

Chat slowly dragged his weapon out of his midriff with an animal like yowl and extended it to vault over the rooftops. But his loss of blood had taken a toll on his accuracy, and he found out the hard way by catapulting himself way off target.

His vision blacked out just as he landed with a hard thud on a balcony.

***

Marinette was just about to tidy her supplies away from making a summer blouse and go to bed when she heard a dull thump on her balcony. 

Her parents had left for a wedding they were catering for, and being alone while something was on her balcony made her skin crawl. 

Marinette unplugged her lampshade and held it up by her head to act as a weapon as she opened her trapdoor and climbed out on to her balcony.

She saw Chat Noir curled up on her balcony. 

“Chat Noir? What are you doing on my balcony?”

He didn’t move, he just stayed right where he was.

“Chat, this isn’t funny. Get up, I want to go to bed! Chat? CHAT!” She rushed to his side and shook his shoulders, making his hands fall off their position on his stomach. Marinette gasped as she saw the gaping gash in his suit that was spilling crimson blood onto her balcony floor.

Tears started spilling down her face as she shook his unconscious form.

“Please don’t be dead! You can’t be dead!” 

Chat stirred and opened his eyes with a small groan. Marinette drew in a sob of relief and hugged him close, but not too tightly lest she injure him more.

“Chat! You’re alive!” She exclaimed with relief.

“Of course I’m alive Princess. It takes more than that to kill me.” Chat replied with a shaky smile.

“Let me call you an ambulance! Wait there, my phone is on my dressing table.” Marinette moved to go back through the trapdoor, but was stopped by Chat’s hand on her arm.

“No! You can’t call an ambulance! I’ll transform back before they get here and they might not know my identity but it might be hard to explain to the hospital staff and even harder to my dad how I managed to impale myself.”

“So what are you going to do now?” Marinette questioned the leather clad superhero.

“Well I was going to try and get home to stitch myself up-“

“You are NOT going anywhere. Not like this.” The bluenette was staring him down with firm resolve in her bluebell eyes.

“I will stitch you up myself, I can’t leave you here all night while you’re bleeding like this!” 

Marinette draped Chat’s arm around her shoulder and carefully lifts him to his feet, lowering him through the trapdoor onto her bed. She climbed down beside him and helped him down the ladder into her bedroom. 

They made their way to Marinette’s bathroom and she sat Chat down on the floor, propped up against the bathtub while she busied herself with gathering supplies. Firstly she gave Chat a paracetamol to help with the pain along with a glass of water to wash it down with. Then she gave him a flannel that he could use to bite down on when the pain got too much. 

“So..we need to wait a while for the painkillers to take effect,” Marinette started talking to him to keep him conscious. “How did you manage to injure yourself like this?”

The blond averted her gaze and looked at the floor.

“I was trying to intervene with a robbery and I got my weapon knocked out of my hands. I was too preoccupied with fighting the two guys that I didn’t see the third one until I turned round and he-“

Marinette couldn’t listen anymore. “Okay. I think I’ve heard enough.”

“Sorry Princess. I hate that I’m burdening you with this.”

“God no Chat! If I hadn’t been there you could’ve died, and where would Ladybug be without you?”

Chat tilted his head back to rest against the bath.

“M’lady would do fine without me. She is definitely capable enough of saving Paris on her own.”

Marinette turned to glare at him.

“Now you listen here Chat Noir,”

Chat looked in surprise at the usually kind, sweet girl as she stared him down with fire in her eyes.

“You’re not Ladybug’s sidekick, You. Are. A. Team. Partners. A duo. Whatever you want to call it. You may not be able to purify akumas but where would Ladybug be without you? She can’t do this alone. I’ve seen some of the fights you’ve fought and you’re constantly taking bullets for her to ensure that she will be able to purify the akumas. You sacrifice yourself for her in nearly every fight but you’re just as important as her, so don’t you even dare think that.”

Marinette broke down at the last sentence.

“But you’re not just a partner to her Chaton, you’re her friend. And you’re just as important to her as she is to you.”

Tears were full on running down her cheeks, and she collapsed on the floor beside Chat.

Adrien was taken aback by his classmate’s kind words. He never knew she felt this way about his alter ego, he always thought she was a fan of Ladybug like Alya. He was also on the verge of tears, but held them in. He couldn’t cry. Crying showed your weakness, that was what his father had told him.

Marinette felt a black gloved hand tilt her head up and wipe her tears away.

“That was a very touching speech, Princess. I didn’t know you felt that way about me.”

“Of course I do. You’ve saved me from lots of akumas. Like Evillistrator. Like it’s just my luck to have a super villain to fall in love with me.”

“Yeah, you’re bordering on my kind of luck there.” Chat replied. They both chuckled, though Chat’s ended in a hacking cough as he spat a mouthful of blood on Marinette’s bathroom floor.

“Oh God, is better get you stitched up quickly! Is there anything else you need before I start?”

“Could I have some cheese? Preferably Camembert?”

Marinette shot him a questioning look.

“Yeah, my kwami, the one who gives me my superpowers, only eats Camembert cheese.” Chat elaborated.

“Ohh okay. I think we have some leftover in the fridge. I’ll be right back.”

Marinette sprinted downstairs, leaned against the kitchen wall and slid down it, coming to a crouch, her head in her arms.

Her red and black spotted kwami Tikki flew out of her pocket and hovered beside Marinette.

“What’s the matter Marinette?”

“I-I think I like Chat Noir. But that’s impossible! I love Adrien! I can’t like two boys at the same time, can I? Oh Tikki, why is this so hard!”

Tikki sighed. “It’s perfectly fine for you to like two boys at once, and Ladybug and Chat Noir are soulmates, like yin and yang. They complete each other and most of them end up together. But it’s entirely up to you which one you choose.” Tikki sighed again, knowing full well that they were the same people.

***

Meanwhile in Marinette’s bathroom, Adrien was having a mental argument with Plagg, who was berating him about Marinette.

_‘I love Ladybug, Plagg! Sure, Marinette is a great girl and one of my closest friends but Ladybug is the one I love!’_

__

__

_‘God Adrien! Why do you have to be so blind! You’re in love with Marinette as well! You can be in love with two people at the same time, it’s not rocket science!’_

Marinette chose that moment to re enter her bathroom, carrying a plate of Camembert, ending their argument.

“Right, I have your cheese. Let’s see what I can do.” She knelt down next to him, examining his suit. 

“Is this a zip?” Marinette asked, gesturing to his bell.

“No, it’s looks like one but it’s not.” Chat replied. “The only way that you’ll be able to help is if I release my transformation.”

“But..But then I’ll know who you are!” Marinette spluttered.

“Well that’s a risk I’m willing to take. I mean you’re the most optimistic, happy go lucky person I know, the least likely to get akumatised, so you’re the safest person to trust with my identity.”

“But Ladybug doesn’t even know, doesn’t she?”

“No. She thinks it wouldn’t be safe, but she would rather I stayed alive than take my secret to the grave. Plagg, claws in.”

The bluenette closed her eyes as the green light washed over her partner, and put her hands over them for good measure.

A pair of soft, warm hands clasped her own and pried then away from her face.

Her eyes remained shut, wanting to preserve his secret for as long as possible. She heard a rustling sound, like clothing being taken off.

“C’mon Princess. You can’t stitch me up blind can you?”

Marinette slowly opens her eyes.

She didn’t know what she was expecting to be honest. But nothing could prepare her for the sight that was before her.


	2. I Will Leave A Light On

“Adrien?”

Her long time crush lent against her bathtub, shirtless, with a gaping wound in his lower abdomen and blood covering his torso and hands.

In a normal situation, Marinette would be freaking out because she was looking at shirtless Adrien, because boy was he hot. She could see every defined muscle in his chest and arms, his gorgeous, bronze skin and emerald green eyes.

But this wasn’t a normal situation by any stretch of the imagination, so she was more concerned that said crush was bleeding out on her bathroom floor.

Adrien knew that Marinette would be surprised. It was inevitable, she was his classmate and his friend, so it would only make sense that she would be even more concerned for him now she knew who he was. What he didn’t expect was for her to burst into tears again.

Tears streamed out of her pretty bluebell eyes and rolled down her cheeks, as she pulled him into a tight hug.

“You stupid, stupid cat! You could’ve died! What would’ve happened if I hadn’t been here? If I hadn’t gotten to you in time?”

Adrien hugged her back, revelling in the comfort her warm body gave. She broke away and started fumbling around looking for the first aid kit.

“I need to get you stitched up! You’ve already lost alot of blood and you can’t lose any more!”

Marinette struggled to put the thread through the eye of the needle since her hands were shaking so much. Adrien, sensing her frustration, put her hands on top of hers and told her to calm down and take a few deep breaths before trying again. She took his advice, steadying her hands and calming down her racing heartbeat. 

“This is going to hurt a bit, so you can bite down on this cloth to help with the pain, okay?” Marinette told Adrien, and he nodded, taking the towel in his mouth.

She poked the needle through the tanned skin of his stomach and felt him tense up.

“Try to relax okay, it’ll hurt less.” 

He nodded again, somewhat relaxing his tensed muscles.

Marinette finished the stitching quickly, and sat back, looking at her handiwork with a skeptical gaze. Adrien noticed her gaze and reassured her.  
“Marinette it’s fine, you’ve done a great job considering it’s your first time. If I transform again then the suit will speed up the healing process. Where is Plagg?”

Adrien looked around the bathroom but there was no sign of the black cat kwami anywhere. 

“Ohh, I-I put some cheese in my room for him, so I’ll go get him back, wait right there.”

Marinette knew she couldn’t tell him why he was in her room because he was seeing Tikki and that would mean revealing her identity, which she wasn’t quite ready to do yet, so she scurried away before he could ask her why.

She found the god of destruction nestled beside his red spotted counterpart.

“Hey Ladybug, how’s it going with Mr Oblivious in there?” Plagg snickered.

“Mr Oblivious?” Marinette questioned him.

“Yeah, he’s too blind to notice your obvious crush on him and that you’re Ladybug. I mean he changes his appearance a little bit when he changes into Chat Noir, but you just look like Marinette in a red spotty suit and mask, which you are! And as for your crush on him, it literally couldn’t be more obvious unless you tattooed it on your forehead in big purple letters. I’m starting to think that he would still be thinking ‘Oh Marinette doesn’t like me like that, she’s just a friend who loves fashion’ if you guys got married and had those three kids that Tikki told me you wanted.”

Marinette just stood stock still throughout that whole speech, with her mouth wide open.

“I think you broke her Plagg.” Tikki spluttered out in between giggles, not wanting to be so cruel to her holder, but unable to stop laughing.

Marinette jumped as Adrien’s voice brought her back to reality.

“Are you okay in there Marinette?”

“Y-Yeah, just fine.” She turned to Plagg. “Adrien needs to transform to speed up the healing process, so please when you go back there just don’t bring up this conversation!”

Plagg shrugged. “There’s no point. Like I said, he’s too oblivious, so I’ve just given up.”

He flew back to the bathroom, where Adrien still lay.

Marinette turned to Tikki. “What were you two talking about?”

“He was just ranting about how oblivious Adrien is, so nothing much.”

Marinette sighed. “Well, just stay out of sight. Maybe you should sleep somewhere else just in case. Come with me, I’ll set you a bed up in the cookie cupboard.”

Tikki let out a sound of satisfaction at the thought of all of the cookies she was going to be sharing a room with and nodded her head.

Marinette took Tikki’s little bed downstairs to the bakery, settling her kwami in the back room where they kept the sweet treats.

“Don’t eat all of them Tikki! And I’m just going to nick a few myself before you start on them.”

She grabbed a couple of croissants and a plateful of passion fruit macaroons and rushed back upstairs.

When she entered the bathroom, Adrien was gone. Panicked, she ran into her room only to find Chat standing there smiling at her.  
“Chat? What are you doing?”

“Thanks fur the hospurrtality Purrincess, but I think I should be on my way.”

He made for the trapdoor above her bed but stopped when he felt a sharp tug on his belt tail.

Marinette stood with her hand clasped around his tail with the same fiery look in her eyes she had earlier.

“There is no way in hell I'm letting you go back out there! You’ve just had a near fatal injury and you want to go jumping across rooftops? No, No, Absolutely not!”

Adrien did a double take. He had never seen Marinette have this kind of confidence before, especially around his civilian form.

“Look, Mari, you’ve done enough, really I’m fine.”

“No you’re not!” The bluenette said with a stern tone. “You were impaled! Even with a magical suit that speeds up the healing process, you might get hurt on the way home and I’ll have no way of helping you then! At least stay til the morning.” Marinette finished, offering him the plate of snacks.

“C’mon, we can watch a movie or something.”

Chat smiled as he took the plate.

“I’ll make some hot chocolate.”.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used Plagg as my outlet for all of my anger at Adrien 😂😂.
> 
> I also make ML edits on YouTube, my channel name is MariChat Lover if anyone want to look. 
> 
> See you next time.


	3. Un Coup De Foudre

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I’m back! I’m not dead!
> 
> I’ve been busy watching the NEW EPISODES OF MIRACULOUS!! THEY RELEASED REFLEKDOLL THEN DESPERADA ONE DAY AFTER ANOTHER, AND THEY WERE SO GOOD!! 
> 
> It then inspired me to continue this fic so hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chat and Marinette sat down with cups of steaming hot chocolate clasped in their hands in Marinette’s bed. She turned on her iPad and clicked into Netflix. 

“Have you ever watched Pretty Little Liars?” The bluenette asked the black clad boy beside her.

“Ehh, no. My dad doesn’t really allow time for watching TV.” Chat rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Wait really?! Then what’s the point of having all of those computer screens in your room then?” 

“Homework, mostly. The occasional email from my father updating my schedule.”

Marinette gasped, shaking her head. “Adri-Chat, ugh this is so confusing! What do I call you?”

Adrien smiled at his adorable classmate. “Just call me Chat when I’m transformed and Adrien when I’m not.”

“Hah, easier said than done.” Marinette giggled.

“Anyway Chat, that’s pretty harsh. You should be allowed to let loose sometimes. You’re one of the hardest working people I know. You have the busiest schedule of anyone I know and still save Paris almost daily.”

“Well my father doesn’t know that, but thanks I guess.” Chat smiled.

Marinette smiles back as she switched on the first episode.

***

“I don’t get it,” Chat started, munching on a passion fruit macaroon, “if Alison was still alive then why didn’t she tell the others?”

“Well, people have secrets, and sometimes they can’t tell anyone to keep their loved ones safe.” Marinette replied, feeling a pang in her heart at the similarities between her situation and Alison’s.

It was killing her keeping her identity secret from her partner, but she couldn’t risk Hawkmoth finding out as well and then using one of them as bait to catch the other. 

Also because of the fact that Adrien only liked the Ladybug side of her, not the Marinette part. She wasn’t a hypocrite though, she had feelings for her partner, but the bluenette wanted Adrien to be the one she loved so much, that she overlooked all of her feelings for her black cat partner.

Speaking of which, said partner laid his head across her lap, bringing her out of her reverie.

“Whatcha thinking about Mari?” Chat inquired, his emerald green eyes boring into her blue ones.

Marinette blushed a delicate pink before answering. “N-Nothing Adri-Chat, I-I mean Chatrien, I-I mean, uugghh!” She groaned at her stupid stutter.

Chat looked crestfallen. His black ears drooped and he averted Marinette’s eyes. “You’re disappointed it was me, aren’t you?” 

“God, Chat, no! Why would you think that?” Marinette exclaimed.

“It’s just in class, or whenever you see me as Adrien, you always try and end our conversations as soon as possible or just avoid them altogether, and I just don’t know what I did to upset you.” Chat replied, still looking like a kicked kitten.

Marinette sighed. She couldn't let him beat himself up about ‘upsetting’ her, when, in reality, it was her with the problem.

It was now or never.

“Do you really want to know why I always wanted to end our conversations?” The blond superhero nodded in reply.

Marinette took a deep breath. “It wasn’t because I didn’t like you, it’s because I liked you too much.” 

Chat bore a striking resemblance to his namesake as he cocked his head to the side in confusion. “What do you mean?”

The bluenette took another deep inhale before continuing. “What I mean is that I...em...I..eh...okay I’m just going to say it. I have a major crush on you and I can’t hold a normal conversation with you without stuttering on every word so I try and avoid having a conversation with you lest I embarrass myself even more.”

Chat was frozen in place, his head still in Marinette’s lap, an unidentifiable expression on his face. 

They sat in silence while Chat processed this new piece of information. ‘Marinette? In love with me?’ He thought, ‘wow it all makes sense now, all the stuttering and blushing she did around me.’

“How long?”

It was now Marinette’s turn to look confused. “What?”

“How long have you had a crush on me?” Chat inquired.

“You remember the first day you came to the school and I came in and I thought you were the one putting chewing gum on my seat. I didn’t recognise you, I didn’t know who you were despite your father being one of my idols. So when I found out who you were my first thought was ‘God, he’s just like Chloe, a spoilt brat who enjoys making people miserable and showing off how rich he is.’”

Chat hung his head down low at this comment.

”And I was tired of putting up with Chloe’s shit, so the possibility of a male version of her was enough to send shivers down my spine.”

Literal shivers ran down her spine, not just at the thought of what Chloe-esque Adrien would be like, but also because she felt a sudden surge of power flow through her skin which could only mean one thing.

Her black clad partner had detransformed in her lap, leaving her looking into the iridescent green eyes of the one and only Adrien Agreste.

Adrien thought that this story should be told to his civilian self to make it more real for both of them. Bearing that in mind, he decided to detransform.

Marinette froze at the gaze of her crush that was slowly boring into her. She forced herself to continue because the cat was already out of the bag.

She couldn’t, however, look at Adrien while telling this story so instead focused on a random point on the wall of her room.

“But the next day after school had ended, it was pouring with rain and I hated getting wet so I was just going to wait out the storm in the entrance to the school. Then the rich, blond asshole walked out and tried to talk to me, and of course I ignored him. Why should I waste my breath on him?”

She spat that last part out so viciously that Adrien could practically feel the venom in her words searing his skin. He wondered why Marinette was talking about him in the 3rd person and why she wasn’t looking at him.

He supposed it was probably easier for her like this, rather than talking directly to him as it was hard enough admitting her crush on him.

Nevertheless her words stung. He was nearly on the verge of tears as his blue haired classmate started talking again.

“He brought out a black umbrella and turned his head over his shoulder to face me and said ‘Just so you know I was only trying to take the gum off your seat.’ I was confused, I thought that he were just like Chloe. Bratty, egotistical and a bully, but now it was looking like he was the complete opposite. ‘I've never been to school before, I’ve never had friends.’ Never had any friends? I couldn’t imagine what that must’ve felt like. ‘It’s all sort of new to me.’ Well I could understand that. Then he shrugged before turning around and, without a second thought, he held the umbrella over my head, not caring if he got soaked in the process. It was such a simple gesture, but he would never know how much it meant to me.” Her gaze turned soft and her eyes sparkled as she stared dreamily into space. 

“It showed me what his true colours were, and those were all of the colours I love and look for in a person.” She paused and looked down at him. 

“Do you want to know another secret?”

Adrien nodded slowly, words failing him at this moment.

“I’m a hopeless romantic.” She let out a forced laugh.

“My guilty pleasure is watching sappy romantic movies. I just love the idea that you could find your perfect soulmate and you would fall in love and it would be that simple.” 

She gazed into the distance again.

“And at that exact moment he was standing there, holding that umbrella over my head, rain dripping down his blond hair, a flash of lightning illuminated his beautiful emerald eyes, then seconds later a clap of thunder was heard. Even though I was expecting it because everyone knows that thunder comes after lightning, I jumped slightly. It wasn’t because I was scared or surprised of the thunder, it was because at that exact moment I remembered an expression which goes ‘un coup de foudre’ which means ‘a clap of thunder’ which symbolises love at first sight.” 

She sighed before continuing.

And then my klutziness had to kick in and I pressed the button on the umbrella which snapped it shut over my head.”

Marinette took a breath, not wanting to stop for too long because she wouldn’t know if she could keep going if she stopped for too long.

“I was kicking myself for looking so stupid in front of him, but it all turned out alright I guess, because I got to hear him laugh. There is no nicer sound in the world than hearing him laugh. I could listen to it for the rest of my life and not get tired of it. And I looked out from under the rim of the umbrella and saw the smile that went with that laugh and my heart stopped.”

Marinette looked directly into her partner’s grass green eyes, wanting to speak directly to him.

“You have the most beautiful smile Adrien. Sure I’ve seen you smile in your dad’s magazines but that was nothing compared with your real smile, the smile that isn’t plastered on your face because there’s a camera pointing at you, the smile of your genuine enjoyment. I love the way your nose and eyes crinkle up when you laugh, the way you always have time to help a friend, your selflessness, I could go on for ages. 

“Then when you stopped by those couple of times as Chat Noir, I didn’t know it at the time but I was also getting to know another part of your personality. And I hated to admit it to myself because I desperately wanted Adrien to be the love of my life, I liked Chat Noir as well. I may have brushed off your advances and your flirty remarks but deep down I enjoyed them and I enjoyed your company. That night especially, when you had prepared that surprise for Ladybug and she never showed up, I got to see yet another layer to your personality; the soft sensitive side of Chat Noir, and I loved it. It showed that despite your heroism and bad jokes, you still have insecurities, which grounds you and reminds me that you’re still human under that leather catsuit and that was what made you even more amazing to me.”

Adrien, who still had his head in Marinette’s lap, was lost for words. 

No one had ever said something so beautiful about him in his life. He had fangirls calling him hot and sexy but that never compared to any of the things Marinette had said. 

She noticed the little things about him that even he himself didn’t know. 

And there was the fact that she also liked Chat Noir who, despite his heroic status was really underrated in the media, he didn’t have the fan base that his partner had and it was nice to know that someone actually appreciated him for once rather than just his celebrity status as Adrien.

Then he took the time to study her face. Those beautiful blue eyes that shone like sapphires under a bright light, her cute button nose and her silky bluebell hair. 

Her hair. Oh how he wanted to run his fingers through it, just to see what it would feel like.

“Oh I almost forgot,” Marinette said, bringing him out of his reverie.

The bluenette took his head out of her lap and made her way over to her desk and opened a drawer in it to reveal a black box with yellow, green and purple stripes on it. 

His colours, the colours on the shirt he always wears.

She opened it to reveal an assortment of things.

“What is all of this stuff?” Adrien questioned his classmate.

“Just a bunch of stuff I saved from our times together.” She pulled out a piece of paper.

“Like this movie ticket when you took me to see your mother’s movie. Granted, we didn’t actually get to see the movie because there was an akuma attack and raging fans chasing us around but it was still fun.” She rummaged around some more.

“The mask from the time we were cast in the Ladybug and Chat Noir music video. Now I know why you looked so nervous.” Marinette let out a nervous chuckle at the last part.

“A photo that Alya took of us when you asked me to dance at Chloe’s party, and another one when you were about to kiss me in that movie we made at school.”

“The ice rink pass from when we first went ice skating together, and I know Luka and Kagami were with us but I don't care, it’s still important to me.”

Adrien had a sudden realisation.

“Oh my God! I asked you for dating advice! I asked you to help me go on a date with another girl and you had a crush on me the whole time! I’m so sorry Marinette! That must’ve been awful for you.” 

Marinette giggled slightly at his sudden outburst because he sounded so like her having one of her freak outs.

“Don’t worry about it Adrien, it’s fine. I did enjoy myself, apart from it getting interrupted by an akuma.”

The blue haired teen drew out another thing from her box.

“And the charm you made me for my birthday. I was so touched that you liked the good luck charm I gave you, and even more so when you made me one yourself. You honestly don’t know how much that meant to me, until now I guess.”

“I still can’t believe you kept everything, all of these little things that I never thought would mean that much to you.”

Marinette smiled at her long time crush.

“I’ve saved the most important one til last. Aha! Here it is!” Marinette drew out....his umbrella? 

“Here you go, I’ve been waiting for a chance to give this back to you, and I guess there’s no time like the present!” She ended her sentence with a shaky laugh as she held the umbrella out to him.

“You kept this?” Adrien was taken aback. He’d never seen the blue haired girl use it so he just assumed she’d donated it to charity or something.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I keep the first thing you gave me that made me fall in love with you in the first place?” 

Adrien pushed her hand back.

“You keep it. It clearly means more to you than it ever could to me.”

Marinette drew in a small breath as she looked up into the green eyes of her crush.

“Thanks Adrien.”

She placed the umbrella carefully in the box once more and put the box back in her desk.

“I hope I haven’t made this too awkward for you.” She said, her back still turned, fiddling with the handle of her desk drawer, stalling for time.

“Nope,” came the blond boy’s reply. “I hope this isn’t too awkward for you.”

“I’m fine, rea-“

The last syllable was lost on her tongue as she felt a pair of strong hands gently grasp her arms and spin her around before planting a kiss on her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, didn’t expect that did you? I didn’t want to put anything hinting at what this chapter was going to be about in the authors note because I didn’t want to spoil it. So hope you guys are happy with this. I just sat for ages writing the confessions scene because I wanted it to be beautiful and compel Adrien to kiss Marinette after. But I also didn’t want it to be expected so I wanted to make it as out of the blue as I could so hope I succeeded. And hopefully I won’t take such a long break, I love this fic and I WILL FINISH IT! 
> 
> Congrats to anyone who actually read all of that, you deserve a medal XD
> 
> Love you lots,
> 
> E xx
> 
> (Bug Out!)


	4. Your Lips Are Red, Your Hair Is Blue, You Are Sweet Like Sugar, But Who Are You?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m finally back! Exam stress and (partial) writer’s block has been a bitch.
> 
> So hope you enjoy, whoever actually reads my fics.
> 
> Update - I’ve changed some formatting in all of my chapters and realised I didn’t write a title for this chapter, so sorry for the long ass title

Marinette stood stock still while her crush had his lips planted firmly on hers.

I mean, let’s give Marinette some credit here, we’re lucky she isn’t in an unconscious heap on the floor right now.

After a few seconds - which seemed like hours for Marinette - Adrien drew his head back, concerned at the bluenette’s unresponsiveness.

“Are you okay Marinette?” The green eyed boy inquired.

“Y-yeah, fine, f-fine totally f-f-fine.” She stuttered in reply. “Just give me a moment.”

Marinette walked over and sat down on her bed, hyperventilating a little. All of the evening’s events were catching up to her, and she needed some time to process it all.

Adrien sat down next to her and watched her twist her hands in her lap, all the while averting his gaze.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” He asked again, still looking at her nervous hand motions.

“Y-yeah, uhh...” Marinette stuttered, not sure how phrase the next part of her sentence. “T-this may sound horrible on my part, but, c-could y-you maybe turn b-back into Chat? I think it will m-make this e-easier.”

Adrien smiled his wonderful smile before nodding his head.

“I need the suit anyway to speed up the healing process. Plagg, Claws Out!”

A green light enveloped his body, once more encasing it in the black leather suit that Marinette knew so well.

His signature Chat Noir smirk, that came with the suit, spread across his face as he said “Is this better Purrincess?”

Marinette flushed a deep crimson as she replied. “Chat! Don’t do that! You know how I feel about you and what effect you have on me!”

Chat’s grin stretched even wider before an innocent expression washed over his face.

“I’m sorry Princess, I’m having _tempurrary_ amnesia so would you be so kind as to tell me what ‘effect’ I have on you?” He placed his head on her lap, still smiling innocently up at her.

The bluenette glared down at the cat eared boy, who let out a hearty laugh.

“Relax Princess, I’m only teasing.”

Marinette tugged gently on his hair in retaliation.

“Owww! That hurt Mari!” Chat squealed in mock hurt.

“Aww I’m sorry Chaton.” Marinette started stroking his hair, sifting her fingers through the fluffy blond strands.

They fell back into a surprisingly comfortable silence, that was broken by a soft rumbling sound.

Marinette turned her head down to look at Chat Noir. 

“Are you purring?” She asked, and it was his turn to blush.

“No....” Marinette grinned at him.

“You are!” Chat was trying, and failing not to purr as his classmate continued to stroke his hair.

“You’re so adorable mon minou.” Marinette cooed down at him, squishing his cheeks together between her thumb and fingers, before realising what she was doing and, more importantly, who she was doing it to. 

The bluenette let out an ear splitting shriek, which partially deafened the poor boy lying in her lap.

“Whoa, Mari! Tone down the volume there before you burst my eardrums.” Chat Noir said, clasping his hands over his cat ears theatrically.

“I-I’m so s-sorry Chat!” The bluenette choked out a sob, salty tears falling down her blushed cheeks and onto the blond boy below her.

Chat sat up and wiped her eyes with his black, clawed gloves. 

“Hey, hey, Princess, why are you crying?”

“I didn't want to hurt you!” Marinette sniffled.

Chat smiled sweetly at her, and she could clearly see the Adrien part of him shine through the black leather mask.

“Aww Mari, you’re too sweet for your own good, I was only joking.” They stared into each other’s eyes.

Marinette could feel herself leaning in, as could Chat, before a loud klaxon like sound cut through the air, making Marinette jump back with a shriek and Chat with an animalistic yowl akin to his namesake.

 _‘My alarm!? We’ve really been talking that long?’_ Marinette thought.

“Oh w-would you look at the time! I’d better be going, y-y’know before my father finds out I’m not there.” Chat stuttered, scrambling over to the trapdoor above Marinette’s bed and out onto the balcony.

He pulled out his baton to vault away into the night, before feeling a pair of small, warm arms circle round his torso and hold on tight.

“Be careful.” Marinette’s soft sweet voice vibrated against his back, sending shivers down his spine.

Chat smiled and turned round to look at her.

“Always am Princess.” She looked him up and down, one eyebrow raised in disapproval.

“Well clearly not, if tonight was anything to do with it.” Her gaze softened.

“Please Chat. I can’t have anything else happening to you, especially now that I know you’re Adrien. So,” 

Marinette brought out a pen from her pyjama pocket, took his wrist in her hand and paused. 

“I was going to write my number on your wrist but I can’t really do that.” 

A green flash blinded her, and she felt the familiar wave of power coarse through her veins which signalled that he had detransformed. The rush of electricity that passed between them made her jerk her hand away.

The handsome face of Adrien Agreste smiled back at her as he held out his wrist.

“Problem solved.” He smirked at her, which sent a wave of heat from her head to her toes.

Marinette wrote her digits on his wrist and signed it with her name so he wouldn’t forget who’s number it was.

Adrien took his wrist back, inspecting the intricate, flowing signature. The realisation hit him like a cold bucket of water had just been poured over his head.

“Uh Mari?”

“Yes Adrien? What’s wrong?” She looked at him with concern in her eyes.

“A couple of years ago, I, eh, kinda wrote a Valentines card to Ladybug in class, but threw it away at the end, because I knew that she would never accept it from me as Chat. But I got a reply, unsigned, but that means someone who was in my class saw me writing it and decided to reply. Someone who had a crush on me perhaps?” He shot a knowing smirk at Marinette.

She squeaked, a mortified look on her face.

“You were never meant to know it was me! Oh god! This is so embarrassing!” She hid her head in her hands.

“Aww Mari, it’s okay. It was really nice actually, getting a card from someone like that, even if I didn’t know who sent it. And now I do, so it makes it more personal. I guess what I’m trying to say, is-“

“Marinette! Are you up sweetie?” Sabine’s voice ascending up the trapdoor to Marinette’s room cut Adrien off before he could finish his sentence.

Marinette turned toward the trapdoor to see her mother’s head poke through the trapdoor in her floor.

Marinette squeaked, thinking she’d been caught with a strange boy in her room, but turning to her left, there was an empty space where Adrien had sat.

“Y-yeah?” Marinette stuttered, trying to act sleepy.

“Oh, good morning Marinette. You’re not usually awake at this time, and I don’t want you to be late again.” Sabine chided, a small smile on her face at her daughter’s tardiness.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m getting up.” The bluenette rolled her eyes at her mother.

Sabine chuckled before retreating back down through the trapdoor.

Marinette’s phone buzzed in her pyjama pocket and she smiled at the screen.

**Adrien - Hey it’s Adrien, sorry I had to dash, didn’t want your mother finding out about me.**

_Marinette - Nah it’s okay Adrien, I would’ve been in deep trouble if I had you over without my parents knowing so I’m glad you got out when you did._

_Marinette - So, see you at school?_

**Adrien - Yeah, see you Purrincess ;)**

Marinette chuckled softly at the boy’s antics before shutting her phone off and getting dressed before heading downstairs for breakfast.

***

**Adrien - Yeah, see you Purrincess ;)**

Adrien smiled at his phone screen, having made it safely back home. 

He peeled back his shirt and inspected his wound.

His skin still burned where Marinette had stitched it up just hours before, but it was better than having bled to death in some alleyway, and now he knew Marinette a whole lot better too.

He smiled again. 

Marinette. With her navy hair and bright bluebell eyes, her sugar sweet laugh and beautiful smile. Not only was she smart, popular and talented, which usually goes to people’s head (*cough cough* Chloe! Well, only really the popular part), Marinette was kind hearted and selfless. 

She actually reminded him of his mother Emilie. All he could see when Marinette was stroking his hair and calling him ‘minou’ or ‘chaton’, was his mother...

_”Oh Adrien, come here! You’ve got a whole bag of flour in your hair!” Mela Lee chided the eight year old boy._

_“But Lee Lee! I don’t want to have a bath!” Eight year old Adrien dodged away from his nanny’s hands and sprinted down the hallway._

_“WAIT ADRIEN! STOP!” Mela Lee charged down the hallway after him, nearly running full pelt into Emilie Agreste, who had just returned from a fashion show._

_The blond boy clung onto his mother’s leg, his nails looking like little claws that were digging into her calves. He looked like a carbon copy of his mother, with sparkling green eyes and fluffy blond hair._

_“Oh mon minou,” Emilie looked softly down at her son, “what have you done this time?”_

_“Lee Lee is trying to make me take a bath!” Adrien pouted, sticking out his bottom lip as far as it would go._

_“Well Adrien, you _do_ look like you’ve been caught in a snowstorm.” The female Agreste looked down at her junior, with a cheeky grin._

_“But luckily I’m pretty _chill_ about these sort of things.”_

The laughter from both mother and child faded back into Adrien’s memory as he himself chuckled.

Most of the personality traits he took on as Chat came from his mother. Out of his two parents, Emilie was definitely the more mischievous and laid back of both of them, so Adrien usually teamed up with his mother to annoy his father. 

The best one _by far_ was when Adrien and Emilie had shaved the hair on his father’s head in his sleep to form the shape of a butterfly, his father’s favourite animal. 

Gabriel had gone through the entire day at his work wondering why people were staring at him weirdly. Until one guy came up to him and told him he liked his haircut.

He sped to the bathroom, and yep, there it was. A giant butterfly shaved into his head.

Gabriel then returned to his house, enraged, to find his wife and son in fits of laughter as soon as he walked in the door, and he simply couldn’t stay mad at them. 

Then a bucket of purple dye dropped on his head from the doorway.

Adrien giggled. 

He had never run so fast from his father before in his life. But when he’d been caught by Gabriel, he was smothered with hugs and kisses by both his parents, making him fell warm and happy in their embrace.

And now look at them. 

His mother was missing, his father was cold and distant and he was sneaking around behind his father’s back.

Adrien face planted on his bed, letting out a loud groan. 

He dragged himself to his feet and threw on his clothes, discarding his bloodstained ones. 

_‘I’ll have to dispose of those later’_ he concluded, tossing them to the side.

After having a cold, lonely breakfast by himself and cleaning his teeth, Adrien picked up his bag and headed out the door to school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we’re at a point in this where I could leave it here, but screw it, I want to continue it. But I only have a few more ideas so you can comment some things that you want featured in this fic to help me, and I could dedicate that chapter to you if you want.
> 
> Also for those of you who are new to the fandom or who simply don’t know, Mela Lee (Adrien’s nanny) is the name of the actress who voices Tikki in the English Dub of Miraculous. So yeah, I thought that would be cute to add in.
> 
> Well anyway, hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Bug Out 🖤


	5. Cry Me A River

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! I’m finally back! 
> 
> The song I used for this chapter is The River Flows In You by Yiruma but that didn’t sound good for the title so I named it Cry Me A River instead.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Despite the fact that Marinette was already awake when her alarm went off, she still managed to be sprinting to school to avoid missing the bell.

She sped through the corridor and made a breakneck turn into the classroom, the bell announcing her arrival as she caught her breath.

“Well you made it on time for once Marinette.” Ms Bustier smiled sweetly at her blue haired student.

“Uh huh,” Marinette replies, too out of breath to say anything else.

She looked over to see a familiar pair of grass green eyes looking in her direction. 

Marinette blushed and looked away, much to Adrien’s dismay.

She walked to her seat, and the lesson proceeded as normal. And by normal I mean the rest of the class getting to work while a certain blonde bragged about how she was too rich to work and that she would call her ‘daddykins’ if she was made to do any school work.

The lunch bell rang, which released the students in a huge tidal wave of shoving elbows and stomping toes.

Marinette didn’t want to get caught in the fray of students so told Alya to go on without her.

Her best friend, seeing that Adrien was also still left in the room, saw her chance and took it. 

Alya grabbed her boyfriend’s arm and yanked him away to the cafeteria, saying a hasty goodbye to the bluenette while doing so.

Ms Bustier, who was also a major Adrienette shipper, made her way to the staff room, hoping her favourite student would finally talk to her crush.

Adrien took a tentative step toward Marinette with a hurt expression on his face.

“Hey Princess, why didn’t you say hi when you came in? Do you not want to be friends?” He looked so sad and Marinette was sure that if he was in his leather catsuit, his ears would be drooping.

She sighed and hugged him tightly.

“Oh minou, of course I want to be friends. But remember what I told you?” The bluenette sifted her fingers through his carefully styled, silky blond hair.

“I can’t act all friendly around you because Alya would start getting suspicious of how we got on such friendly terms, and I’m an awful liar and I obviously I can’t tell her the truth.”

Adrien sighed in Marinette’s arms.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe we could all have a sleepover at Nino’s or something and then we could ‘get to know each other’” 

Marinette nodded, breaking away from the hug, much to Adrien’s discomfort. “But for now, I need to be my awkward stuttering self, and you need to be your normal oblivious self.”

Adrien gasped, and expression of mock hurt spreading across his gorgeous, tanned face.

“I am not oblivious Princess! I am offended that you would think of me in this way.” He ended the sentence by striking a sassy pose, his hand over his forehead in theatrical indignation.

Marinette giggled and affectionately pushed him back.

“Cmon _Catsanova_ ,” she smirked at him before continuing, the pun earning her an eye roll from the blond boy.

“Let’s catch up to Alya and Nino and hope we’re not interrupting their usual game of tonsil hockey.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

***

Sitting down in their usual chairs beside their best friends, Marinette and Adrien were grilled by said best friends about what they talked about.

Marinette, playing her role perfectly, blushed and mumbled something indecipherable.

Adrien, also playing his role perfectly, replied “I was just talking to Marinette about maybe having a sleepover, just the four of us. I persuaded my father to clear my schedule for the weekend and he actually listened this time! So I want to make the most of it. So you guys in?”

“That’s awesome dude! I’m glad your old man finally let you have some fun!” Nino replied, smiling at his best friend. 

“Yeah we’re in!” Alya exclaimed, smirking at Marinette, who hid her face in her hands.

Adrien snuck a look at Marinette, who nodded discreetly.

“Well the problem is....” he trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence.

“Your old man won’t let you have people over. No problem dude, it’ll be at my place, meet there at six. I’m just glad my bro can finally have a sleepover.” Nino replied, putting an arm round Adrien’s shoulder.

“So, can everyone come tonight?” The brown eyed boy asked his friends. A chorus of ‘yes’ echoed through the group, that was only broken by the bell signalling the end of lunch.

“Well, we’d better get back to class, especially since we have Ms Mendeleiev’s class.” Marinette spoke to the group, earning a collective groan from the rest.

“Yeah let’s go guys.”

***

After school, Alya and Nino bid Marinette and Adrien farewell, the DJ walking the reporter home, leaving the two superheroes with each other and an uncomfortable silence hanging in the air.

Adrien was the one who broke it.

“Well I’m gonna head home now, see you there Marinette.” The blond turned on his heel and started to walk off.

“Wait!” He turned round again to look at his newfound close friend and confidante.

“Don’t you have fencing today?” Marinette asked, having memorised his schedule.

Adrien shrugged. “My teacher is ill today so I’m going home to look over my physics notes.”

“Well if you’re free, then you can come round to mine if you want.” Marinette suggested, blushing a delicate pink.

Crinkling his nose in confusion like a cat, Adrien asked “I thought your father didn’t like me.”

“What?! Papa loves you! Both my parents do! What made you think he didn’t?”

“Umm, you remember when I came round to yours and had lunch with you? And your dad got mad at me and got akumatised.” The model hung his head in shame.

“Ohhh, yeah I do remember that. But that was when you were Chat, and he only got mad because I overreacted a little when you rejected me.” 

Oh it was definitely awkward now.

Adrien cringed and looked away from Marinette, embarrassed.

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“It’s okay, like you said, you can’t help who you love. And I did overreact a lot so I’m the one who should be sorry.”

Adrien smiled. 

“Nah it’s fine. So your parents really do like me?”

Marinette smiled back.

“Of course. Just prepare yourself, because Maman has a tendency to over feed her guests, especially people she really likes.”

The blond boy’s face lit up at the mention of food.

“Your mother makes the _best_ pastries ever!”

Marinette giggled. “Okay, come on then, I’d better feed the stray then, wouldn’t want him to starve.”

“That would be a _catastrophe_ ” He smirked at his pun, while the bluenette groaned at his lame attempt at a joke.

“God I’m going to have to put up with that all day aren’t I?”

“Regretting your decision to save me Princess?” Adrien asked, somewhat jokingly.

Marinette’s face fell.

“Of course not kitty! Where would Nino be without his best friend? And most importantly where would Paris be without it’s superhero?”

“They have Ladyb-“

“Yes! They have Ladybug, but Ladybug needs _you_. You’re her partner, and if _I_ was Ladybug, I wouldn’t want to lose you either. And now I know you’re Adrien-“ Marinette’s voice broke, as she burst into tears again.

“God I’m sorry,” she wept, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. 

“I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you minou.”

Adrien took the sobbing girl in his arms and held her close, stroking her hair.

He had grown in the past three years, so when he hugged her she disappeared into his arms, his comforting scent calming her, and causing her river of tears to cease their flow.

“Cmon kitty, let's get you some food.” Marinette broke away from his embrace and taking his hand instead, pulling him towards her home, not missing the huge grin that spread across her crush’s face at the mention of food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I have plans for the next chapter. There will be some cringe, but also some fluff, so prepare yourself.
> 
> See you soon hopefully,
> 
> Lili xx


	6. If This Night Is Not Forever, At Least We Are Together..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m back! I’m not dead, just really stressed. Prelim season is upon me, (prelims are mock exams) and I have to do a shit ton of revision. So yeah, that’s the tea. Anyway, this chapter is very controversial so some may love it, but some may hate it. So be a lover not a hater!

They arrived at the Dupain-Cheng bakery and were greeted by Marinette’s parents, Tom and Sabine, who fawned over Adrien, giving him a huge platter of pastries and other baked goods which they took up to Marinette’s room.

“So, I’ve never been to a sleepover before so wha-“

Marinette held her hand up to silence him. “Wait, hold up? You’ve never been to a sleepover before!?”

Adrien nodded sheepishly.

“Oh my god! Your father never let you have sleepovers? That’s awful!” Marinette clasped her hands over her mouth in horror.

“I was always so busy with modelling and everything, that I never had the time.”

“Sleepovers are great fun! You play lots of games like truth or dare or Just Dance, get high on sugary sweets and stay up all night. You’ll enjoy yourself, I promise.” Marinette told him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

The blond shot a small smile back at her.

“Why don’t we play Mecha Strike until we have to go to Nino’s?” The bluenette suggested, squaring up to Adrien in an over the top fashion.

He rose to the bait. “Oh it’s on!”

***

After several rounds of Mecha Strike, where Marinette thouroughly wiped the floor with him, Adrien found himself waiting in the Dupain-Cheng's kitchen for his friend to return downstairs with her overnight bag.

He decided to make small talk with Marinette’s parents to pass the time.

“So Mr Dupain-“

“Call me Tom, please. Mr Dupain sounds to formal.” The bear like man cut him off, smiling fondly at his daughter’s friend.

Adrien grinned back at him. “Okay then Tom. What are your plans for this weekend?”

“Me and Sabine are taking a trip to see my mother in Italy. We will be staying there for a couple of nights since Marinette is having a sleepover.” The large man replied, with a sweet smile in Adrien’s direction.

“Oh that sounds fun, well that’s Marinette coming down now.” Adrien greeted his blue haired classmate with a wave of his hand.

“Hey, you ready to go?”

“Yeah.” He grabbed onto the strap of his bag and, baring farewell to his friend’s parents on the way, walked downstairs out of the door.

***

“SAY WHAT!” 

“Alya, calm down, please!”

The auburn haired girl took a deep breath, before shakily replying. “You mean to tell me, that you have never, NEVER, been to a sleepover before?!”

The model sighed before nodding.

“In your whole 17 years of life, you have never once had a sleepover!” A crazy grin spread over the blogger’s face that sent shivers down everyone’s spine, before returning to a neutral, innocent expression.

“Well let’s make this one count, because unless you finally grow a pair and stand up to your dad, I don’t see another one on the horizon.”

Marinette’s heart was beating out of her chest. What was her friend planning?

Adrien’s voice was heard through her inner screaming.

“So what are we going to do first?”

“Well we’ve brought lots of snacks so let’s start by getting high on sugar, that usually makes the party really fun.”

The blond boy’s nose crinkled in confusion. “Why?”

Nino answered this time. “Well it makes everyone really hyper, which means we’ll laugh a lot more and be a lot more bouncy.” He chuckled before adding an afterthought. “Plus, Marinette is so funny when she’s hyper, she talks at like a million miles a minute, giggles every ten seconds and dances around the room, even if there’s no music playing.”

Marinette squeaked. “NINO! SHUT UP!”

“Cmon dudette, it’s hilarious!”

Shooting him a death glare, Marinette folded her arms with a hmph of annoyance at her friend.

“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s eat and drink our body weight in sugar!” Alya yelled, grabbing a can of Coke.

***

_A couple of hours and several hundred bags of sugar later..._

“Wait, so you’re telling me that you’ve never been kissed?” Alya asked Adrien, a shocked expression on her face, while Marinette burst into fits of giggles for no reason whatsoever.

“Well we can fix that.” A devilish grin spread across the blogger’s face as she looked over at her best friend who had turned a deep crimson.

“Adrien, I dare you to kiss Marinette for 1 minute. And I don’t mean a small little kiss, I mean a full on make out session, tongues and all.” The bluenette turned an even deeper scarlet that before, as she choked and spluttered on her words.

“ALY-“ She was cut off by Adrien, who dragged her to him with a swift tug and planted his lips on hers.

She closed her eyes and moved her mouth against his as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss.

Marinette had only just finished her internal freak out when Alya brought them out of their little bubble. 

“Okay, okay kids, keep it PG.” She said, moving her arms around in wild sweeps.

“Alya you literally said ‘a full on make out session, tongues and all.’” Marinette replied, looking skeptically at her best friend.

“So you did like it?” Alya waggled her eyebrows and nudged her in the ribs.

“Eek!” Was the designer’s only reply.

“Well Mr Model, how was that as your first kiss?”

The blond boy smiled at Marinette. “I think Marinette was a great kisser. But I’ve been kissed before apparently, but I can’t remember it.”

A small secret smile spread across Marinette's face, knowing full well that he was lying through his teeth as they had kissed the other day, but also knowing what kiss he was referring to.

“Does that mean that you were a little kid when you had your first kiss?” Alya squealed. “Aww mini Adrien getting kissed? So cutee!”

Marinette giggled in a high pitched fashion, getting looks from the other three.

“I actually have a picture of me when I was a baby.” Adrien added as an afterthought.

“Ooh let’s see!” His friends clamoured.

He turned his phone to face them.

“Aww look at your little green eyes!” Marinette fangirled over her long time crush as a little baby.

“Look at the little cat suit!” Alya cooed.

“Yeah, you were so cute, what happened?” Nino said with a smirk, earning a glare from his girlfriend and a pillow to the face from Marinette.

“Hey! Hey I’m sorry.” The DJ replied as he giggled.

“God guys look at the time!” Alya exclaimed, pointing to Nino’s clock, which read 2:10.

“Yeah, we should get to bed.” Adrien added, looking over to Marinette, who’s eyes were drooping, indicating that she was exhausted.

“Let’s go then...”

***

The four friends were in Nino’s room within 10 minutes, sorting out beds.

Alya was whispering in Nino’s ear, a smirk playing across her pretty features.

Marinette gulped, this was never going to be good.

“I’m sorry guys, it seems like there’s only one spare mattress, so you’ll have to share.” Nino said, in a fake apologetic tone.

_Oh boy, I was right. This isn’t good. How did I know Alya was going to pull some shit like this!_

“Marinette can take the mattress, I’ll take the floor.” Adrien offered, looking at her kindly.

“Oh, no, Adrien really it’s fine. You can take it, you can’t have a bad back for your photo shoot, and I don’t think your dad would approve of you sleeping on the floor.” Marinette pleaded with him.

“Well I won’t let _you_ sleep on the floor either. So I guess we’re sharing.” Adrien replied.

“Aww I think Adrien enjoyed his kiss with my dear Mari a bit _too_ much.” Alya wiggled her eyebrows again, earning a scowl from Marinette.

“Yeah, Yeah. Let’s just go to sleep.”

Trying to fit two people onto a single mattress is hard, trying to fit two people - one of which had a major crush on the other, that they both knew about. 

They were both lying half on half off the bed, when Adrien turned over to face Marinette. “Are you okay?” 

Marinette nodded. “Yeah, just feel like I’m going to puke any minute.” 

A worried look on his face, Adrien asked “Is that because of the amount of sugar we ate tonight?”

His friend laughed in response. “Yeah, probably.”

“Well, goodnight Adrien.”

“Night night _Purrincess_.”

The bluenette laughed at his antics, booping him on the nose in reply.

“Night night minou.” Marinette replied, turning over onto her right side and closing her eyes.

She felt a warm weight pressing against her back, before Adrien’s nose nuzzled into her neck.

“Is this okay Mari?”

“Yeah, it feels nice, and that way we aren’t falling off the bed.” She replied, holding his hands that had circled round her waist.

She felt vibrations rumble against her back which signalled his contentment, which caused a small smile to play across her lips as she closed her eyes.

***

Adrien awoke a couple of hours later to an empty bed.

He looked around sleepily for Marinette and saw a light coming out from under the bathroom door.

He waited about 10 minutes for her but she didn’t return.

The blond model walked to the door and his catlike hearing picked up the sound of feminine crying on the other side.

He knocked on the door softly. “Marinette? You okay?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m f-fine r-really.”

“Can I come in? I just want to see if you’re okay.”

“A-Alright then.”

Opening the door, he struggled to see his friend at first but spotted her by the bathtub, sitting with her knees hugged into her chest.

Adrien made his way over to her and knelt next to her.

“Princess? What’s the matter?”

“Umm..”

Before she could answer Adrien noticed something.

“Mari, why is there blood on the floor?”

She froze.

“Umm...”

Adrien started to panic and brought out his phone.

“Don’t worry Marinette, I’m calling an ambulance for you! I’m going to wake up Alya and Nino and-“

Marinette stopped his flow of word vomit by placing a hand on his shoulder. “Adrien, I’m fine really.”

“B-but, what about the b-blood?” He turned to face her, hand in the process of dialling the ambulance.

She looked at him in surprise. “You really don’t know?”

“Know what?” He asked her, confusion etched into his features.

Marinette blushed heavily at this.

“Emm, I’m going to need to go home. I need to change, and quite honestly I feel like shit, so-“

“Well I’ll come with you then.” Adrien told her adamantly, a stubborn look crossing his face.

“But-“

“No buts Princess, it’s way too late for me to let you go home on your own, especially if you’re wounded.”

“I’m not wounded. Really I’m fine.” She replied, giving him a pained look.

Adrien didn’t believe her, and made that evident in his facial expression.

Marinette sighed. “Fine, you can come home with me. If you wait outside, I’ll clean this up and I’ll explain what this is on the way home. Oh and don’t wake Alya and Nino, I don’t want to bother them with this.”

Adrien gave her a worried look but respected her wishes and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Marinette let out a sigh and collected herself. The next conversation was going to be a hard one, she thought, while grabbing a couple of pieces of toilet paper and starting to clean up the floor.

***

After grabbing their stuff and heading out the door, Adrien turned to Marinette.

“Now can you tell me what’s going on, or I’ll pick you up right now and take you to the hospital myself.” The blond model had a look of steely determination in his eyes, which made the bluenette smile, glad that he was concerned about her wellbeing.

She took a deep breath before answering him.

“Okay, listen. This is going to be very embarrassing for me to talk about, especially with you, so just bear with me.”

He nodded, still confused.

“Basically, when a child gets to around 12 or 13, sometimes younger, sometimes older, but mostly around that age, they start going through puberty. But puberty is different for boys and girls, their bodies change in different ways to each other.”

She stopped to take a breath, knowing that the worse was yet to come. 

“One of the things that girls go through, is that around that age is when periods start.”

Adrien’s nose scrunched up in confusion. “What is a period?”

Marinette sighed in defeat. “A-a period is, emm, well, umm, when a girl is ready to have a baby, her body releases an egg from her ovaries, which are here,” she gestured to her lower torso, near her bladder, “and that egg waits to be fertilised by a sperm cell, which is how babies are made.”

“I know how babies are made, but I don’t see what that has to do with it.” Adrien told her.

“Well I’m just getting to that bit,” Marinette informed him, “it’s just embarrassing so I’m trying to put it off.” She sighed for the millionth time that night.

“For the baby to grow, it needs a thick protective lining on the womb to be able to grow properly, so the womb lining thickens to prepare for the baby. But if the egg isn’t fertilised then after a while it falls out....along with the womb lining.”

Adrien’s face had scrunched up in disgust.

“Ewww, so that was the lining of your womb? Can you stop it from falling out?”

“Not really no, we either have to have a sanitary towel which is like a nappy that catches the blood, or a tampon....which...goes....up-“

“Whoa, okay! I think I’ve heard enough.” Adrien looked sick to his stomach. “Are you okay?”

Marinette nodded. “Yeah, it came a week early, so I guess it was just a shock.”

“Wait, what do you mean it came early? How often does this happen?”

“Every month.”

“EVERY MONTH!” He yelled, stopping walking to hug Marinette tight. “I’m so so sorry Mari!”

She giggled a little at his overreaction. “It’s fine, I’ve had it for years so I’m used to it.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s just one day out of every month.”

Marinette snorted at that statement. 

Adrien looked confused by her outburst. “What?”

“You really think nature would make it that easy? It’s different for every girl, but I have a week of painful cramps and mood swings before my period, then I bleed heavily for a week straight, then I have another week of cramps after that.”

“What! I’ve known you for ages, so you must’ve had at least one while I knew you, and I never noticed that anything was bothering you. How do you function normally while that’s happening to you?” Adrien spluttered out his words, still flabbergasted at this new information.

Marinette shrugged. “You just sort of get used to it, cause it ends when you’re about 50 so it’s not going away anytime soon. Plus I’d really like to have kids when I’m older so yeah.”

“Really? Well you’re always babysitting Manon, so I think you’ll be a wonderful mother.” Adrien smiled at her.

“Merci, minou.” Marinette stopped walking and hugged him tight.

He nuzzled his nose into her hair, inhaling her warm bakery scent that always clung to her.

“Well I think you’ll make a wonderful husband someday.” Marinette replied, breaking the warm embrace and continuing her path home.

“Really?”

“Really. I mean your reaction when you thought something was wrong with me was that you were going to carry me to the hospital yourself, and I’m not your girlfriend or your wife, so how are you going to react when she is in danger?”

Adrien chuckled lightly. “Well you may not be my girlfriend or my wife but you’re still a good friend that was in trouble, so I wanted to help.”

“Well thanks.” She stopped walking and crouched down, letting out a soft moan.

“Hey are you okay?” Adrien knelt down beside her and put his arm over her shoulders. 

“Just cramps. I’ll be fine in a minute.” Marinette choked out, her voice laced with pain.

She then felt strong arms circle across her back and under her legs before she was swept off her feet, and into the blond model’s steady grip.

“Cmon, let’s get you home Princess.” He smirked down at her and she was momentarily speechless, before she wrapped her arms round his neck and buried her face in his neck.

“I’m getting a strong sense of deja vu.” She mumbled into his neck, remembering all of the times he’d carried her as Chat Noir.

“Yeah, I guess. You sure you’re okay.”

“Yeah. Oh here’s a tip for any future girlfriends or wives you may have, when she has her period, give her lots of cuddles and chocolate, and then they really will love you. Cause most boys will want to stay away from their girlfriends because they think that what’s happening is disgusting and they don’t want to be a part of it.”

“That’s awful. I hope you dump any boys that do that to you.” Adrien was appalled at that last statement, wondering how girls would go out with boys like that, and vowing never to be one of those boys.

“Oh I will, don’t you worry.” The bluenette let out a chuckle into his neck, which sent shivers down his spine.

***

They arrived at Marinette’s house and she unlocked the door for them to go upstairs.

“Right I need to shower, but I’ll grab you some cookies and snacks to have while I’m in the shower.”

“Ooh that sounds nice. If you tell me where they are I can get them and you can have a shower.” Adrien implored, wanting his friend to be comfy.

“Okay, they’re in the back room of the bakery. It should be unlocked.” Marinette smiled at him.

“Have a nice shower, then.” Marinette waved goodbye as she walked into her bathroom after grabbing some clothes.

***

Marinette turned the shower on full blast, and sat under the hot jets, clear rivers of water painting their paths down her body.

She crouched down as a fresh wave of cramps hit her, which coloured the water below her a deep crimson.

Tikki flew beside her from her bag to try and comfort her.

“Are you okay Marinette?”

“God Tikki, that was humiliating! It’s bad enough getting your period a week early, but getting it when you’re sharing a bed WITH YOUR CRUSH! Why do these things happen to me?”

“Adrien likes you a lot, and cares for your wellbeing, so he just wanted to make sure you’re okay. He’s a good kid who had a heart of gold, so keep him close.” Tikki consoled Marinette, nuzzling her holder’s cheek affectionately.

“Thanks a lot Tikki, why don’t you sleep in the store room tonight, so that Adrien doesn’t see you.”

She smiled at her chosen before phasing through the ceiling and out of sight.

Marinette sighed in relief, before realising that Adrien was meant to be in the store room.

Oh shit.

She scrambled out of the shower and threw on a towel before half running, half falling down the stairs to the bakery.

Barrelling into the store room, Marinette found it to be empty. 

_Where’s Adrien?_ she thought, before a jiggling of keys in the door snapped her from her train of thought.

_Are Maman and Papa home early?_

A blond head of hair came through the door, followed by the face, neck and body of the one and only Adrien Agreste.

“Oh, hey Marinette? Why are you down here in your towel?” He asked quizzically.

She then became very aware of her state of undress.

“Ohh, umm I just heard a noise that’s all, and thought someone was breaking in?” Marinette lied unconvincingly.

“And you thought you’d fight them in your towel?” Adrien chuckled lightly. “Maybe you should save the crime fighting for the superheroes Princess.” He winked at her which made Marinette laugh and boop him on the nose.

“Oh well, nothing can hurt me now that you’re here, my knight in shining leather.” The bluenette exclaimed theatrically, throwing one hand over her forehead while the other still held her towel tightly to her body. “Where were you anyway?” She added as an afterthought.

“Well, since my Princess was feeling blue I thought she should have something to cheer her up, so I thought back to what you said on the way home, about ‘if any of my future girlfriends were on their periods then buy them chocolate and give them lots of cuddles.’ And you may not be my girlfriend, but you’re a girl who’s a friend, so I bought lots of chocolate,” he brandished four Galaxy bars, “and someone to help you cheer up.” He brought a small cuddly cat out of the bag, with jet black fur and sparkly green eyes.

“Aww kitty! You didn’t have to do this.” Marinette felt herself welling up and she took the presents in one hand, the other still holding up her towel.

“I did have to, you were upset and I wanted to be a good friend.” Adrien shot Marinette a shy look. “Did I do a good job?” 

Marinette was surprised at this question, but then again his only friend before her, Nino and Alya had been Chloe, and she only accepted really expensive gifts, so couldn’t be satisfied with a couple of chocolate bars and a cuddly cat. Well she wasn’t Chloe, and this meant the world to her. It was also Adrien who was giving her the gift so she would treasure literally anything he gave her.

She put her gifts down on a nearby table and stood on her tiptoes to give the blond model an awkward, one armed hug, which he gladly returned, and she felt him let out the breath he’d been holding in, in a sigh of relief.

“Merci Minou. Now I need to get changed into my pjs so just wait in my room and I’ll be out in a couple of minutes.”

“Okay Marinette, see you in a couple of minutes...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah...now you see why I said it’s a controversial chapter. It’s funny to think that more people would be more comfortable reading a sex scene than reading about periods. I wrote this because I’m actually on mine so it made me feel better about my period XD.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the fluff. 
> 
> Lili xx 🖤💚


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the update took so long, I have been preoccupied with schoolwork and stuff, so here’s the next chapter. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Marinette emerged from the bathroom, fully clothed in a vest and shorts and her hair partially dried in beautiful beach waves.

Adrien was sprawled in a catlike fashion on her chaise, but his head snapped up to attention as she entered the room, a beaming smile spreading across his face. "I've never seen your hair down like this before Princess, it's a good look."

This made the girl blush slightly and chuckle at him, ruffling his hair affectionately as she walked past. 

"Thanks kitty." She stretched her hands up to the ceiling, her vest riding up to expose her porcelain skin. "So sleepover noob, what else haven't you played before? Have you played Just Dance?" The cat boy shook his head no.

Marinette gasped, rushing over to her Wii and turning it on. "Everyone has to play Just Dance at some point in their life, it's so fun!"

"How do you play it?" Adrien jumped somewhat elegantly off the chaise and walked to where she was standing.

"So basically, there's characters on the screen and you have to copy the moves they're doing, and you get stars based on that. I'm the undefeated champion of Just Dance." Marinette said that last part with fake narcissism, flicking her strawberry hair in Adrien's face, the sweet scent driving him crazy.

The blond hair boy smirked at his 'friend', staring her down with fire in his eyes. "Is that a challenge I hear?" He cupped a hand around his ear to emphasise his point.

Marinette didn't answer, only fired up the game. "Right, ladies first." She shot him a snide look.

Adrien slow clapped in response. "Wooow! What a five star insult! I mean, really Mari, the only insult that beats that is 'You're Mr Thick, Thick, Thicketty, Thick-Face from Thicktown, Thickania....and so's your dad!'"

Marinette barked out a laugh. "What was that from?"

Adrien's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you've never seen Doctor Who! That's like a criminal offence!"

"Okay then you adorable geek, beat me at Just Dance and we'll have a Doctor Who marathon." The bluenette handed him a control and the opening credits of the game played.

"Right Adrien, choose your poison." Marinette gestured to the songs on the screen.

Adrien looked at the TV, at the selection of tunes and only recognised one. One that was on one of Nino's mixtapes, and that he had wanted to know the name of. 

He clicked a few buttons and soon, the song 'Dance Monkey' was set up on the screen. 

"Ahh, good choice minou." Marinette stood to attention as the song began to play.

***

"How? How did you beat me?!" Marinette stood there in disbelief, as she watched her crush perform his victory dance.

"Must be my cat-like reflexes." Adrien smiled his shit eating grin that she so often associated with her favourite black cat.

"Well, congratulations Adrien on your first Just Dance win." Marinette held out her hand like the good sportswoman she was.

"So, can we watch Doctor Who now?" Adrien had apparently had too much chocolate judging by the way he was just about bouncing off the pink walls of her bedroom. 

"Yeeesss." Marinette conceded with a long sigh. "First though, we should build a blanket fort...oh god, you've never built one of them either have you?" She looked at his sheepish grin as he shook his blond head in response.

"What childhood did you have?!"

"It was very different from yours I can tell you that." Adrien rubbed the back of his neck.

Marinette's face lit up, a sunny smile shining across her pixie-esque face. "Well, we can catch you up now. We can stay up all night and eat cookie dough and watch movies and play games, and do all of the other things that you didn't get a chance to do!" 

Adrien's face turned as golden as his hair as it lit up in response.

"That sounds great Mari! You're such a good friend!" Marinette's heart plummeted at his words. I'm still 'just a friend' then.

She busied herself with gathering armfuls of blankets out of her wardrobe. "Right," Marinette started briskly, "I'm going to go up to my bed and dangle the blanket off the top, you take the end of it and pin it to the wooden support there," she pointed at the wooden frame which held her bed up. "then if we drag my chaise over here then we can peg a blanket to it as well."

Adrien nodded, slowly coming down from his glucose-induced frenzy, and watched his friend climb the stairs up to her bed. 

Mari dangled a pink blanket off the left side of her raised bed and Adrien caught it as promised, and grabbed a pin from her desk and stuck it in the wooden beam, pinning her blanket to it. 

As directed by Mari, the sunshine child dragged the chaise over to where she was pointing and pegged the fluffy fabric to the chaise.

He fixed another one to the staircase and pegged it to the one attached to the chaise. 

Marinette came down the stairs, positively quivering with excitement (or possibly a glucose high as well), and laid out blankets on the floor of their fort. 

"Right, I've got my iPad, now we can watch Doctor Who." Now it was Adrien's turn to quiver with joy. 

"Yesss! Join the nerds Princess!" He shouted, which made her giggle.

Marinette turned on her iPad and loaded up Netflix. "Okay, this was your idea, so find it for us." 

Adrien's stomach lurched at the word 'us'. 

_Why do I feel so weird when she says 'us'? He thought, while finding Doctor Who on her iPad. I've never reacted this way before. Maybe it's the sugar. Or maybe it's because she has a tiny bit of chocolate in the corner of her mouth and I just want to kiss it away....wait what!_

His fingers trembled as he typed it into the search bar.

_Why am I thinking about that? Do I like Mari? Adrien shot a glance at her. She was sitting cross legged on the fort floor, braiding her hair in a crown. Oh how fitting, a crown fit for a pretty princess._

"You okay minou?" Adrien realised he'd been staring. He shook himself out of his reverie. "Of course Purrincess, just admiring your new crown." He shot a flirty grin her way, which made her blush slightly. _She looks so cute when she blushes..NO! Focus Agreste!_

"Oh thank you kitty," Marinette turned to face the screen when he pressed play on the first episode, still braiding her hair in a perfect plait that wrapped around her head.

"Okay Mari, the special effects are a bit rubbish in the first season but it gets really good." 

"Okay kitten, fire away."

***

After the third episode, Adrien was struggling to keep his eyes open.

He glanced over and found his Princess curled up on the floor, fast asleep.

She's the one who should be called a cat. He laughed to himself, before turning the iPad off, covering her in her favourite fluffy throw, before curling up next to her.


End file.
